Del Toro’s sketchbook of ideas has never worked for me. And I remain astonished as to why this one in particularly worked for so many others. All the characters are flimsy cyphers with none of what they represent coalescing in any way. Even apart from that, as a piece of direction, it’s pedestrian at best, with Del Toro clumsily keeping his camera moving for no reason other than to add mobility to an inert plot.

As Marvel movies go, this one yearns to be taken seriously, with its scrutinising, though compromised, inspection on modern political problems and its stunning design work.

But the hosannas the film has received in certain circles is embarrassing, much of it a reaction to said representational issues that have more to do with the lack of diversity in modern-day big-budget cinema, rather than the film’s accomplishments with plot, character, performance or aesthetic.